Owls fall to Stars in HHC play

By Zach Spicer - The Republic ()

Published: 1/18/13 11:57 pm ESTUpdated: 1/19/13 12:00 am EST

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SEYMOUR — Strong starts by Bedford North Lawrence at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters proved to be too much for Seymour to overcome during Friday night’s Hoosier Hills Conference game in the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.

The Stars held a 46-37 lead going into the fourth quarter, and then expanded their lead to 57-38 before the Owls, led by Chase Salmon and Zak Lucas, closed the difference to 61-51 with one minute left in the game. But BNL closed out the 67-55 win.

“We lost by 12, and in the first half alone, we gave up 16 points on offensive-rebound put-backs,” Owls coach Scott Miller said. “They got up by 18, and we battled back from that, battled with effort and put some pressure on their guards. We were a couple of steps from getting a couple more steals in that game.”

The Owls went on a 13-3 run midway through the fourth quarter and used a 3-point basket by Lucas from the right corner to make it 61-51 at 1:01. But that was as close as the Owls could get.

Lucas scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and 17 for the game, while Salmon scored six in the fourth period and 11 for the night.

Miller said another factor was free throws as the Owls were 8 for 15 in the fourth and 15 for 25 for the game, while the Stars shot 13 for 16 in the fourth and 14 for 18 for the game. Morgan Cummings was 8 for 8 at the line in the fourth quarter.

“We missed some free throws down the stretch and had some chances to get even closer, and it seemed like they always had an answer, always hit a big shot,” Miller said. “If I had to put my finger on this game, it would certainly be rebounding in the first half.”

The Stars held a 25-15 advantage in rebounds, including 13-5 in the first half.

BNL had 17 turnovers to 15 for the Owls, and Miller said, “Probably eight of those were unforced and just silly ones.”

Miller said he was pleased with the defense played by Jackson Stuart.

“He did a great job defensively. He gave us a spark,” Miller said. “He didn’t pose as an offensive threat, but he can make stuff happen because he’s athletic and he’s tough as nails, and he did a good job.”

BNL shot 7 for 12 from the floor in the first period to take a 20-13 lead, and the Stars led 36-24 at the half.

The Owls had four players in double figures for the first time this season. Landon Booth scored 15, and Zach Schlatterer had 12 to go along with Salmon and Lucas in double digits.

“Unfortunately, that’s the extent of our contribution,” Miller said. “We’ve got to get more kids that are active. We had a couple kids we were counting on to score tonight, and that didn’t happen.

“We’ve shown improvement. This is not the first time we’ve dealt with a 6-7 kid, and he wasn’t the factor. It was speed and the aggression of (Blaze) Byrer and Cummings and (Trey) Turner. They are aggressive. Those kids end up getting hands on the ball. They were just quicker to the ball than we were.”